


Hellhounds on the Trail

by Sorryimnotthatkindofdoctor



Category: Hardy Boys - Franklin W. Dixon, Supernatural, The Hardy Boys
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Clairvoyant Joe, Fluff, Happy Ending, Hellhounds, Mentions of Anxiety, mentions of trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-10
Updated: 2017-07-10
Packaged: 2018-11-30 03:28:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11455041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sorryimnotthatkindofdoctor/pseuds/Sorryimnotthatkindofdoctor
Summary: Ever since he was little, Joe's attracted hellhounds of all breeds and sizes, and they adore him. When he & Frank start hunting, they just become part of the team. Sam & Dean don't trust them, but when the hounds do little more than beg for belly rubs, they start to get a little more comfortable...





	Hellhounds on the Trail

Not many people know how hellhounds are formed, assuming they're bred specifically for their violent tendencies. But, they’re more like violent spirits. When hellhounds are born in the wild, they’re discarded & ignored, driven mad by being left alone until a demon finds them & takes them to hell to be trained. Hellhounds aren’t naturally evil or vicious - like any other animal, they're driven that way.

So when Joe doesn’t recoil from them - when he rubs their bellies or gives them scritches behind their ears or offers them scraps, they become attached. And no power in heaven or hell can help anyone who tries to hurt their boy.

The first time Joe saw a little red eyed puppy - a little fuzzy, shadow of a thing - he’d thought it was just his imagination. But then it had nuzzled at his leg & Joe had his first hellhound as a pet.

He named her Roxie.

Not all the hounds he tended to when he found them as puppies stayed with him, but they all remembered him. Sometimes, when he found them again while he & Frank were hunting, they would whine happily before coming up & nosing at his palm, looking for the treats he would give.

That was how the Winchesters found out. Mostly, Joe kept his hounds out of the bunker, not wanting to alarm Sam & Dean. But then they run across one on a hunt & Dean almost shoots it because they hear the baying, hear the heavy panting, & then Joe is on his back. But he’s not screaming or crying in agony.

It’s Frank who explains, slowly & carefully, not wanting them to think the brothers have been lying by not telling. 

After that, Joe doesn’t hide the hounds’ existence anymore. They still stay outside the bunker, but he says that’s where he’s going - “to play with the pups.”

It’s slow going, but one day Sam comes out to watch. Joe introduces him to a handsome little guy - he looks like a mix of a pitbull & a wolf, with red eyes & sharp teeth - named Jax. Sam wears the glasses that let them see hounds, feeling better if he can see them. Soon enough, Sam has a few hounds that look to him almost as eagerly as they do to Joe.

Dean continues to stay away, though he doesn’t grumble out loud. Getting ripped to shreds by a pack of hounds tends to make one skittish. But when some of Sam’s favorites save the hunter from a werewolf, Dean can’t deny being grateful for them.

And so one day, he steps out, glasses on. It’s the most fucking scared he’s been in decades. Sam & Joe are out with Frank, playing with the hounds. It takes Dean a half hour to actually get close enough to speak, his heart pounding as he watches the three men roll around under the hounds. It’s like he remembered… only without the blood & screaming.

When he feels a cold, wet nose at his wrist, it’s all he can do not to jump & pull his knife. He’d left his gun for that very reason, not wanting to harm the creatures on instinct.

“His name’s Beau,” Joe says quietly, looking up with a soft, almost said smile. Dean nods, not smiling or speaking. He sits down on a rock a distance away & just watches. When Beau, who looks like he’s got more than just a little great dane & a dash of grizzly bear in him, lays by his side, Dean slowly lets a hand dangle down by his ears. It takes centuries, it seems, for Dean’s fingers to actually make contact. Beau gives a happy little whine at the scratch.

The next time they go out on a hunt, Dean, Sam & Frank pack their glasses, knowing a pack of hounds is running, just out of sight, along the road with them.

END


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